


Undercover as Myself

by Allastra



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-07
Updated: 2016-11-06
Packaged: 2018-08-29 13:36:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8491789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Allastra/pseuds/Allastra
Summary: Years have past since high school, and Kaiba hasn’t heard from the geek squad since, but he gets the surprise of his life when the FBI want to send an undercover agent to protect the Kaiba brothers from an outside attacker. ~Seto x Joey Puppyshipping





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> author: uh hi... It's been years since I've written fanfiction.. or at all... so enjoy? and let me know if you want more!

## Chapter One

“Kaiba Corp, Seto Kaiba’s office. Jenny speaking, how may I help you?” Jenny’s fingers clicked across her keyboard as she typed, pausing as the man on the line spoke.

“Hello Miss, I am Agent Burns of the FBI. Could I speak with Mr. Kaiba?” she pulled up Kaiba’s schedule and saw the he was alone at the moment. “Hold please, I’ll see if he is available.” putting the caller on hold she sent a message to her boss.

~Sir I have a Agent Burns from the FBI on the line. He wishes to speak with you. Shall I transfer the call?~ 

* * *

The message notification popped up in the corner of Seto’s desktop monitor. He finished his notes on one of the new projects from RnD; it was coming along well and a prototype would be built within the month. Saving he clicked on the message from his secretary, frowning slightly and sending her the ok to send the call through. 

Seto picked up the phone and hit the line once it lit up, wasting no time in addressing his caller. “This is Seto Kaiba, What is this all about Agent?” He could hear the agent clear his throat before answering 

“Straight to the point, heh. Hello Mr. Kaiba, I’m calling because an investigation of ours has uncovered a threat to yourself and your brother. We would like your cooperation in a case that will both insure that both yourself, your brother, as well as your company are safe. If you agree to take part, we will assign a case agent undercover as extra security for yourself and your brother as well as a contact point for us.” Kaiba mulled over the agent’s words, 

“How will another agent help in the security of my brother and myself, as I’m sure you are aware I already have an elite security protecting him and my person at all times. Who could be such a threat that the security I have in place is not sufficient?”

“I’m sorry I can’t give you any further information on the case at hand without you agreeing to be a part of it. We can’t risk anyone becoming aware of the operation.”

Kaiba frowned and opened his calendar, His curiosity was probably getting the better of him, but in his experience knowledge of what was going on around him was always far better than looking the fool when whatever this was came to light later. “I have an opening at 2:30 this afternoon, how long will this briefing take?” 

“Excellent Mr Kaiba, we should only need a hour of your time today, in the future we will most likely communicate with you through our case agent. Discretion is of the utmost importance here. It would be helpful if you didn’t put our meeting today into your calendar. Thank you for your time Mr Kaiba, I will see you this afternoon.” The agent hung up without waiting for a reply. Kaiba sighed and messages his secretary, asking her to block out the time in his schedule as unavailable, and that if anyone asked for him while he and Mokuba were away to say they were dealing with personal matters. Once he saw his calendar update and a confirmation from her he messaged Mokuba asking him to come to his office when he had a moment. His brother sent back a message saying indicating he was in a meeting and would stop by in half an hour. 

Kaiba looked back and the pile of spreadsheets and requests he would have to go over before leaving for the meeting this afternoon. He flipped through each of the folders in his inbox, reorganizing them to what he felt was more pressing, though he knew they had been organized already by when they needed to be approved, he also knew the ones on the bottom from his second sorting would most likely be denied. He would give them a full look once he got to them but the summaries showed that they weren’t promising projects. 

He flipped through the top folder, another project asking for further funding and to be brought into full development instead of being an RnD experiment. He flipped through the spreadsheet and frowned at the projected costs and earnings. Frowning he pulled up the report from the last month's project update. Somehow they had doubled both the costs and tripled the earning projections for the project within a month. It was highly unlikely and probably someone was trying to push this through before it was finished the RnDs full testing cycle. He would have to drop in and look at the prototype himself to confirm his suspicions. Sighing he threw the file off to the side. 

Two sharp knocks came at the door before Mokuba walked in, already in the process of losing his tie as he clasped in one of the chairs in front of Seto’s desk, dropping his bag beside it. “I swear, Collins can talk about NOTHING for hours.” Mokuba ran a hand across his black hair, which was bound in a pony tail. Kaiba smiled at the man in front of him, a sudden feeling of nostalgia hitting him; wasn’t it only yesterday that he was just a child constantly being kidnapped and getting in trouble. Now he was an adult, running Kaiba Corp at his brother’s side as his vice president. 

“You shouldn’t let him, I just cut him off when he starts wasting my time.” Seto smirked while Mokuba just shook his head at his brother. “Not everyone can be as heartless as you Seto, I have to be the saint of our image so that people know that Kaiba Corp has a heart. That includes indulging Collin’s ramblings from time to time. Now why did you want me to stop by? Or were you just feeling lonely?” 

Seto ignored his brother’s joke, “I need you to come with me to a meeting off site today. 2:30pm about an hour. Do you have time?”

Mokuba pulled his phone out of his pocket and poked at it a few seconds before replying. “Yeah I have time, where are we going?”

“You’ll see when we get there, call it a surprise although I doubt it will be good.” Mokuba shook his head before smiling at his brother, “fine don’t tell me, It will be good for us to get out of the office while the sun is still up for once! I’ll meet you back in your office before and we’ll go down together? I should back to my office.” Mokuba sighed and stood, swinging his bag back onto his shoulder and waving at his brother before tightening his tie and smoothing it back into place.

* * *

Mokuba and Seto stood in the elevator of the FBI, riding up to the 21st floor. Seto had explained what little he knew on the ride over and he could tell Mokuba was on edge. His left foot was tapping a constant beat, a habit he had picked up in college. The elevator pinged and the doors slid open. 

An agent had been waiting for them at the elevators and approached them as soon as they stepped off. “Ah Mr Kaiba, right on time. I am Agent Burns, we spoke on the phone. And this must be your brother. Come the agent assigned to your case just landed and will be joining us momentarily. In the meantime I will explain what is going on. Follow me.” Mr.Burns turned and lead the Kaiba brothers to a conference room. Seto and Mokuba sat down at the conference table across from the agent, noting that there was not chair at either head of the table, instead there was a monitor on the wall at where the head would be opposite the where the door they had walked in was. 

“Well then Mr Kaiba, thank you for meeting with me. I know both your and your brother’s time is very valuable but let me start from the beginning. We have been following a spree of company downfalls in the last year. Someone has been hacking into companies, siphoning billions without a trace and destroying the company from the inside. In every case there has been no connection to anyone past a half baked frame job. We have picked up chatter that you are the next suspected target. It follows with the motive of this person or persons. The success and size of your company as well as the technology that comes out of it makes it the most likely target for the next attack. We want to place an agent within your company at a high ranking programer position. He is familiar with the MO of the attacker. He was the one that uncovered the calling card that states the next target in every trace. This person is highly skilled, and with the agent in place with access to your network he should be able to see the attack before it happens, track down and stop this criminal. “ Agent Burns pushed a file towards the brothers that had the same information he was summarizing for them.

“You said there was a risk for our safety, where does that come in with this corporate takeover?” Mokuba asked, looking at the folder in Seto’s hands as he paged through it.

“Well there have been a few cases where the companies hit didn’t have the funds to back up what the company was worth. In truth the CEOs of these companies were taking money from their own companies as well. In these cases the hacker turned violent and put out hits on the CEO. We’re not sure why, what motivation they have to take out these CEOs, but the threat remains that if the hacker don’t get what they want, they will turn violent.” 

There was a knock at the door, before it opened. Both Kaiba’s turned to see the agent joining them. A blond man walked in, wearing glasses and an expensive suit. He looked jet lagged and his hair was wind blown. He wore a satchel across his body and paused taking in the room before passing the threshold. Mokuba stood, a huge smile upon his face. “JOEY!” Mokuba walked around Seto’s chair and pulled the blond into a hug. The blond returned the hug, but quickly let go and joined Agent Burns on the other side of the table. 

Agent Burns smiled at the scene, “It seems you already know Agent Wheeler.” Joey removed the satchel and placed it on the chair beside him. Smiling at Mokuba who sat across from him.

Seto stared at the blond, unable to figure out in what world Joseph Wheeler was an FBI agent. How had the street mutt get the attention of the FBI and become not only an agent, but the tech that had figured out an expert hackers calling card. He was at a loss for words. Never in a million years would he have predicted meeting Wheeler again. Not like this.

“Agent Wheeler will be hired into your company as a high level programmer, you can assign him workload as befits the station, he will be able to handle the workload as well as run the defensive lock on your company as well as personal accounts. He will set up flags to alert if anyone is testing the system. On top of that we will have a support team also monitoring the situation. Although if it gets to the point with the hack happening, Agent Wheeler will be our best chance of tracking and stopping the attack. We don’t want to set up extra barriers in case the hacker finds them, which he will and alert him that we’ve figured out his calling card. At best he will pick out another target and be in the wind until the next attack, at worst he will get violent and attack the building, putting not only yourselves but everyone else in danger.” Agent Burns started into Seto’s eyes, knowing that he would be the one that he would have to convince. Seto stared back at him, icy cerulean clashing with Agent Burns blue-grey gaze. 

Seto spoke without looking at Joey. “I will have to review the openings we have and see if Wheeler can actually do what is required. After a coding test and proper interview process, if he does well; we will set him up. I can take a look into it and set up an interview tomorrow. Is that soon enough Agent Burns” Seto stood as he finished, glancing at his watch and noting that they had stayed too long.

Joey stood as well, opening his bag and handing over a sheet of paper across the paper. “Yes that will be fine, here’s my card and resume. Be sure to pass it off to the right people.” Joey winked at Mokuba watching out the side of his eye as Seto snatched the paper out of his hand and turned to leave. “I’ll give you a call tonight Joey, we should meet for dinner if you’re free.” Joey nodded at Mokuba, smiling back as he ran after Seto who was already halfway to the elevators.

“Well that went better than you thought it did” Agent Burns remarked, looking over at Joey with a smile on his face. 

Joey smiled and pulled the satchel back over his shoulder. “This will definitely be an interesting meeting; and the first where i’m undercover as myself. I’m going to go check into a hotel if you don’t need me for the rest of the day.”

“That won’t be necessary Agent Wheeler, we have an apartment ready for you, we weren’t sure how long this case will be. Better that you look as though you’ve moved back to the city for work. Here are the keys and address.” Agent Burns handed over a sealed folder that had all of Joey’s info for the case inside. Joey nodded to Agent Burns, opening the folder and pulling out all of its contents. He added most of it to his satchel, before pulling a key ring from his pocket and adding the apartment key to it.

“This will be fun.” He smiled at Agent Burns and left the office to his new apartment. Both to unpack and await for Mokuba to call him. He flipped through his phone, planning on messaging a few friends that he was in town. This really was going to be his most interesting case yet.


	2. Chapter 2

## Chapter Two

Joey turned the key Agent Burns had given him into the lock. Opening his new apartment in Domino for the first time. Joey stepped in, leaving his luggage by the door he walked through the apartment. It was fairly nice, decorated with modern white furniture that he would never chosen himself; but it was nice. He walked through the living room. A flat screen tv hung across from a comfortable looking leather couch. To the side of the couch was a desk set up with a large tower PC and two monitors as well as a charging stand for his laptop.

He moved on to inspect the kitchen. The fridge was filled with basic ingredients: eggs, milk, condiments. He would have to go shopping later. The cupboards revealed non-perishable staples but otherwise he would need to add a few things. There was a knife set on the counter beside a spice rack. Someone had looked at his profile and noted that he liked to cook.

Smiling he glanced into the dining room that completed the circuit. Walking back through the living room he walked past the small bathroom and into his bedroom. Someone had made the bed with dark red sheets and a black comforter over a queen sized bed. There was a small closet to the left side of the entrance and a large dresser to the right. There were night stands to either side of the bed the was centered on the far wall.

Collapsing on the bed Joey closed his eyes for a moment before pulling his phone from his pocket. He started a new text and messaged Yugi and Tristan letting them know he was back in Domino for work. He let himself relax smirking at the look on Kaiba's face when he had first entered the boardroom today. The arrogant CEO hadn't know what to make of Joey now. It had been seven years since they had seen each other, since they had graduated high school.

How could Kaiba know that Joey had gone off to Columbia University and gotten a Computer Science PhD and been recruited by the FBI before the end of his second term. He had been trained at Quantico during his summers and after his graduation. He had graduated from both at the top of his class and landed himself in the New York FBI. Since he had helped solve countless cases and had become one of the top requested assets for undercover operations. His background with gangs in his youth helped him join seamlessly with anyone from the very bottom to the very top of high stake operations.

He had been looking over the corporation killer in his off time. Pouring over the code trying to make sense of a few lines that as far as the FBI could figure, had no place being there. When he had finally cracked the code he had immediately checked his method countless times before bringing it to his supervisor. That little insight had gained him a promotion to head agent in his sector and head of the case. When Agent Burns had requested Joey fly to Domino and protect the next target he had packed his bags without a second look back at his life in New York. 

Joey's phone vibrated softly, stirring him from his musings. He peered at the screen and saw an unrecognized number, sliding his thumb across the screen he answered, "Hello?"

"Hey Joey, it's Mokuba! I was thinking we could go to Chateau D'Elegance tonight, could you meet me there at seven?"

Joey smiled at Mokuba's enthusiasm, it had been years since he had seen the kid in person, but they had kept in touch through email over the years. Joey agreed to meet Mokuba at the restaurant and hung up, adding the number to his contact list. The call was followed up with a text from Mokuba’s number confirming the time and place.

Joey stood and took off his satchel, placing on his bed and opening the closet. Inside he found a small but sturdy looking safe built into the back. He pulled his FBI badge from his pocket and tossed it into the safe. Setting the code and locking it with his passport. Walking back to the bed he opened the satchel and dug through it, removing his wallet and sliding it into the inside pocket of his suit jacket. 

He pulled the laptop out of his bag and took it back into the living room, setting it up in the laptop stand, happy that the stand was setup to charge his laptop while it was in the cradle. He booted the desktop and fiddled with it, pairing it with his laptop and setting it up to his liking. Hours rolled by and soon his phone alarm went off, letting him know it was time to leave and meet Mokuba at the restaurant. Turning off his alarm, he slid the phone into his pocket and pulled his keys. Joey slipped on his shoes and left the apartment, locking the door and calling the elevator.

* * *

Seto sighed as he entered the condo by himself. It had been years since they had sold off the huge gaudy Kaiba mansion and bought out the penthouse of a condo near the office. Once Mokuba had moved away for university Seto had no reason to stay and after talking it over with Mokuba he has moved out. He had his own private elevator up to his suite. He had a little less privacy in the condominium then he had when he had lived in the mansion, which had stretched for acres, but as he got older the space just felt isolating and he had found himself sitting in random coffee shops instead of going home to the empty house.

Mokuba had moved into his own apartment nearby when he had returned from university, stating that he was too old to live with his brother but that they would always be close. Heck half the time one Mokuba still ended up staying in Seto’s condo. With a shake of his head, Seto walked through past the kitchen and living room to his bedroom. Methodically he removed his tie and suit jacket, tossing them in a hamper. He rolled the sleeves of his dress shirt up to his elbows and walked back to the kitchen.

Seto looked through the fridge, picking out ingredients as he went. The kitchen filled with sounds of meat sizzling on a frying pan, while the brunet CEO chopped up ingredients for a salad. Cooking had always been a secret hobby of his, though it wasn’t until he had finished high school that he had had the time or energy to cook for himself during the week. He had barely left himself time to eat or sleep back then. Relying on staff to take care of Mokuba’s food and welfare. Pulling a plate from the cupboard he placed his steak and salad on the plate, topping it with a balsamic dressing.

Eyeing the empty room, he decided to eat outside, grabbing his plate and utensils he went over to the staircase by the front entrance and walked up to the to the roof. There was a beautiful rooftop garden, that only his suite had access too. There was a barbecue up there that they used a few times in the summer and a hot tub and small spa pool side by side closed off with a curtain made of vines to the left of the stairs.

Seto sat in one of the reclining chairs and stared at the plants while he ate. The wind played with his hair, messing up his usually perfect brunet locks. Today had been a weird day for him, the meeting with the FBI had thrown off the rest of the day. He had found himself checking the company account balance a few times before chiding himself on it. The last thing they needed was for him to tip off the crook before the sting even happened. 

What really had taken him off guard had been the blond mutt, it had been almost a decade since he had seen him. Time had been very kind to Joey, he no longer looked like a lanky mongrel with too much energy to sit still for longer than a few seconds. It was also remarkable how good he looking in that three piece suit, even with the jet lag and same mop of messy blond; which has been cut shorter than high school but was still in the same style. 

How had the mutt gone from failing all of his high school classes and barely scraping by without being arrested to not only a member of the FBI but one with extensive coding skills. He would probably end up looking into it more tomorrow, he would have Perkins send up the interview tape and coding challenge after the mutts interview. At least it was more or less standard protocol with the higher up coding jobs. Seto always liked to know what his team leads could do, it helped when he had someone he could trust to do their job in the position. It meant less off his plate and less to clean up when something went wrong.

Finishing his dinner, he set his plate on a side table and stood, looking out at his view of the city. He wondered idly if the blond was still as easy to stir as he had been in high school. His lips quirked into a familiar smirk. Maybe the mutt working for him wouldn’t be so bad, as long as he could keep up with the workload of his company's newest games team lead. He wasn’t sure that the position was quite right for Joey, but the last team lead had had a mental breakdown and quit last week and the team was getting more and more behind without a proper lead. 

Sighing Seto grabbed his plate and went back into the first level of the suite. Placing everything in the dishwasher he closed it and started walking over to the living room area. The door to the suite opened and Mokuba walked in, smiling at his brother and locking the door behind him.

“I didn’t think you’d drop by tonight” Seto fell into one of the plush couches and flicked on the tv. Watching Mokuba place leftovers in the fridge before collapsing beside him with a happy sigh.

“It was great! It was nice seeing Joey in person again! It’s been awhile since his last visit! “ Seto’s left eyebrow rose, the mutt had been visiting Domino since high school, that was news. “I didn’t realize you kept in touch with him.” Seto flicked through the channels not really paying attention to what was on the screen. Mokuba swiped the remote from his hand and changed the channel to the stocks, placing it on mute before tossing the remote onto the table.

“Well, since I know how much you didn’t like Joey, or Yugi or well any of them I didn’t tell you. I figured you didn’t really care what they were up to these days.” 

“Yes well, it seems regardless of what i want that group always ends up part of my life whether I want them too or not.  It’s surprising to find out he’s not running around with a gang on the streets.” Mokuba punched Seto in the shoulder playfully, “You know he’s a lot smarter than he ever let on Seto! He went to Columbia and got a PhD in computer science! SO THERE!”  Mokuba stuck out his tongue at his brother, a childish habit he still did whenever they were alone.

“Heh really, so that resume he handed over wasn’t fabricated, interesting.” Seto let the argument drop, not wanting to piss off his brother. It was nice having him around, he livened up the place. “In any case, you’ll find out tomorrow how good he is when he comes in for the interview. What position did you set it up for?” Mokuba had gone from meeting to meeting after coming back from the FBI with Seto. He hadn’t had time to talk to his brother before running out the door to meet up with Joey for dinner.

“I figured he might be a good fit for the Blessing of Osiris team lead roll. He’s good with people and given his resume he should be a good fit for the team. Perkins is interviewing him tomorrow.” Mokuba nodded slowly, “That’s not a bad idea, maybe he can help the team chill out enough to get back on track! I just hope it’s not too much more on top of his investigation.” 

“As long as he delegates and organizes what the team has to do he should be fine. I’m going to bed, do you want to have breakfast together before we leave tomorrow” Seto stood, picking up the remote and turning off the tv. Mokuba nodded at his brother, covering his mouth as he yawned. “Yeah sounds good, good night brother.” Seto smiled back at his brother nodding before heading off to his room and going to bed.


	3. Chapter 3

## Chapter Three

Joey straightened his tie as he looked at his reflection in the elevator mirror. He was early for his interview and though it wasn’t with Kaiba he still felt nervous about it. Even though he already had a job, Kaiba had given him a shot at a team lead position for one of the new games they were working on. It was a high level position that Joey hadn’t expected the cold CEO to give him a shot at. Somehow he had expected to give the blond some demeaning data entry position he would’ve killed for a chance at if he hadn’t ended up in the FBI. 

The doors of the elevator slid open and Joey walked up to the secretary. He introduced himself and sat down in one of the chairs she indicated while she sent an email to the man that was going to interview him. Joey found himself trying to resist the urge to fiddle with his hands, or tap his leg. A man with greying hair and a sharp nose looked around before his gaze landed on the blond. Joey stood as the man walked over to him, outstretching a hand. “Hello Mr. Wheeler, I am Steve Perkins, head of hiring for Kaiba Corp. If you’ll please follow me we’ll start with the coding test before moving on the the interview. Would you like something to drink? Coffee, tea, a glass of water?”

Joey declined the drink and followed Mr. Perkins to a small room with a computer and two chairs. Perkins indicated that Joey should sit in front of the computer and explained the assignment. “You have an hour to finish the task, if you need anything you can hit that button on the far left of the desk. Any questions before I leave you?” Mr. Perkins left the blond alone in the room once he assured him he would be fine.

Joey cracked his knuckles and opened up the instructions placing them to one side of the screen before starting in on the small game he was told to make. It was a very simple game, but it would show them how he wrote code, and judging by the time limit, not many people could set up a game that fast. Joey smiled ruthlessly and lost himself in the rhythm, his fingers flying across the keyboard. 

Joey finished the game early, and was finishing debugging when Mr. Perkins came back into the room. “Let’s see your game Mr. Wheeler.”

Joey wheeled away from the desk and stood up, allowing Perkins to control the computer. Perkins loaded up the program that Joey pointed to and ran through the game. It was a simple platformer with enemies and loot. There was only one enemy type, though as he fought through the level Perkins realized that they must have randomized stats since they difficulty of them curved as he got further in the level. When he died it restarted the game, and Perkins smiled as he saw that the level was actually randomly generated, creating a slightly different path each time. 

The game was bare bones, but very impressive for the time limit. Nodding Perkins opened the code and smiled, it was very organized and it looked like the blond had been prepared with an idea of what he would do coming into the interview. The code was commented making it very easy to see what everything did and Joey had used proper naming 

“Very impressive work Mr. Wheeler, given the time limit.” Mr. Perkins packaged up the work and placed it on a thumb drive. Perkins’ sat across from Joey and continued the rest of the interview, quite happy with how Joey handled himself throughout the interview.

“Well Mr. Wheeler, it has been a pleasure getting to know you. We’ll give you a call once we’ve made the decision.” Mr. Perkins walked Joey to the elevator and shook his hand again, watching the blond enter an elevator going down before calling for one to take him up to see Seto Kaiba. 

The elevator doors opened and he approached Kaiba’s secretary.  “Is Mr. Kaiba available, I’ve just finished interview for the Team Lead.” 

“I’ll let him know you're here, just a moment.” The secretary smiled at Perkins as he sat for a moment and wrote up notes from the interview while it was still fresh in his mind.

“Mr. Kaiba will see you know, Mokuba is also in his office.” Perkins nodded and walked over to the large mahogany doors, taking a moment to straighten his suit before knocking once and entering the office.

* * *

Joey smiled as he got off the phone with Mr. Perkins. They had offered him the job hours after the interview. He was pleased even though he knew it was a formality. His phone buzzed again in his hand. 

“Hey Yugi, how ya been.”

“I’m good, what are you doing back in Domino! Last time we talked you didn’t sound like you would be able to visit again until Christmas!”

“Well, I actually came back for a job interview at Kaiba Corp. It’s a really good opportunity and Kaiba actually let me try for it.”

“WOW, that’s huge, when is the interview?”

“It was this morning, I just got the call that I got the job. They want me to start as soon as possible. So if you're free tonight we should try to gather as many people as we can and have a celebration party!”

“That’s amazing Joe, congratulations! I think most of us are free, though professor Bakura might bail early since he has an early class to teach tomorrow. Does that mean you’ll be staying for awhile? Do you have a place yet? You can stay with me if you need too!”

“Ah i’m not sure how long I’ll be staying, at least a few months, I actually lucked out and managed to nab an apartment downtown fairly close to the office. It’s one of those rentals you can get by the month, fully furnished.”

“That’s great! I’ll have to come by and visit while you have it. What are you up to right now, you wanna come down to the shop and hang out with me and tell me all about your interview between customers.”

“I have to run back to Kaiba Corp and sign some papers, and then they want me to meet the team I’ll be on. I’ll have to take a raincheck, but I’ll see you tonight, I’ll see if Mokuba and I can force grumpy pants to come too.”

With a chuckle Joey and Yugi said their goodbyes and hung up. Joey walked back into the Kaiba Corp meeting and was met in the foyer by Mr. Perkins.

“Thank you so much for coming back today Mr. Wheeler. The team is struggling without a lead, I’ll bring you up to speed after we go through all of the HR paperwork. We’ll also need to schedule a Lunch meeting for you and Mr. Kaiba, though from what I understand you already know each other.”

Joey blinked at the torrent of words coming from Mr. Perkins, unsure what to say. He followed Perkins silently and filled out all the paperwork the was pushed in front of him. 

Joey rubbed his wrist, trying to quell the ache that was intensifying as he finished another form. “Alright Mr. Wheeler are you ready to meet the Blessing of Osiris team? I’ve told them to expect you today, i’ll have to leave you after i introduce you to everyone and show you to your office. Oh yes, here’s the key for it, and your passcard for the elevators. The passcard is also your id for the building security, so be sure to wear it where they can see it. It shouldn’t be a problem once you are up on your floor but they are very strict about access from the lobby.”

Joey smiled and clipped the pass to the breast pocket of his jacket. He followed Mr. Perkins to the elevator and watched and the numbers clicked by, finally landing on the 15th floor. They exited the elevator and walked through a lobby. 

“These cubicles up ahead of are the programmers, you have an outstanding meeting every monday to check in with the progress of their assignments and make sure everything from the week before is on track. Your office is here between the programmers pen and the designers. There’s a large conference room here that you can use. Both teams come together a lot to work on stuff for the game. There are a few smaller conference rooms along here as well for smaller groups to get together and collaborate. And over here are the designers desks. Back the opposite way we came from the elevators are the Quality Assurance team. They deal with deploying to the test server and finding and reporting bugs. We’ve called everyone into the conference room to meet with you. Are you ready to meet your team?”

Joey tossed his copy of his contract onto his desk along with the office key before turning back to Mr. Perkins and nodding. They opened the door a huge meeting room filled with about twenty people. The buzz of chatter died down and everyone turned to look at Mr. Perkins and the blond standing beside him. “Hello everyone, this is your new Team Lead, Joseph Wheeler. He will mostly be taking over the programmers and testers. However he is here to try and get everything back on track as well as help out where he can. He is a very proficient coder and completed one of the best entries to the coding test we’ve had thus far. We will be putting it up on the server along with your own soon but for now they are all yours Mr. Wheeler, let me know if you have any more questions and I will answer them as best as I am able.” Mr. Perkins shook Joey’s hand once and left the room, leaving Joey alone with his new team.

“Hi everyone, first off please call me Joey. Mr. Perkins has ramped me up on the status of Blessing of Osiris, but I’d love to get my hands on what we have now and see what everyone is working on.” The tension seemed to release as Joey spoke to his new team. Going from working on a small team to this was going to be a trial for him, but he hoped that he would be up for the challenge. Within minutes the meeting become a status update where everyone told him the pieces that were done and what each team or individual was working on. Joey had removed his suit jacket and was writing out each of the pieces of the project. He heard from the last team and stepped back from the white board. 

“Well it looks like we still have a lot of work cut out for us but this is a great start. I’ll need someone to show me where the test servers are so I can take a look. It seems like you guys are doing a great job we just need to tighten the last schedule up a bit and we should be back on target. The first step of that is probably letting everyone out of this room.”  Joey chuckled as everyone nodded in agreement with his last statement. “Alright, Everyone get back on it, I’ll be in my office, just send me a ping or stop by if you have any questions while I try out our game and work out the new schedule.” Joey grinned and moved to the side of the door, shaking everyone's hands as they introduced themselves to him on the way out.

As the last person left Joey picked up his jacket and walked across the hall to his new office. He left the door open and went around the desk, tossing his jacket to the side of his desk he logged in using the information HR provided him before being prompted to change his password.

A knock came at the door and Joey looked up. “Hi sir, i came to help show you or infrastructure and the get you onto the test server. My name is Evan by the way.” Joey shook his head slowly, “Please call me Joey, if I get sir’d too many times it will go to my head. Pull up a chair Evan I was just poking around some of the files they left for me from the last guy that sat here.”’

Evan showed Joey all the different in-house programs they used and how to access the test server. The blond soon lost himself, playing Blessings of Osiris and making notes as he came across bugs and features the stood out. A knock came again at his door and Joey frowned looking up from his screen. Blinking a few times as he realized it was dark out. “Hey there you are Joey, Yugi sent me to collect you for your congratulations party, since you haven't been answering your phone.” Mokuba stood in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. “Sure, give me one second.” Joey typed out the last few things he wanted to talk about with the team the next day before locking up his computer and grabbing his coat. He slid his phone from his pocket and winced as he saw how many missed calls and texts he had. “Whops, sorry I was trying out this game I’m suddenly lead on and lost track of time, Let’s go!”


	4. Chapter 4

## Chapter Four

Kaiba pulled over in front of Yugi’s shop, Joey and Mokuba undid their seat belts and got out, Seto took his time removing his seat belt. He had half a mind to just stay in the car until Joey and Mokuba were done. Mokuba must have heard his brother’s thoughts because he came around to the driver side and opened the door, grabbing onto Seto and forcing him out of the vehicle. With a sigh Seto got up and followed them into the Kami Game shop. 

Joey took the lead, and walked through the door of the shop and into the back apartment. “CONGRATULATIONS” Streamers and confetti shot up as Joey walked into the living room. Joey laughed goodhearted, grinning at his friends. The Kaiba brothers and Joey were covered in streamers and bits of paper. “Thanks Guys, but I’d appreciate it if you didn't cover my best suit in bits of paper and glitter.” He brushed off his shoulders trying to clear off some of the confetti off him. 

Mokuba looked over at Seto and grinned, watching his brothers eyebrow twitch as he stood there covered in confetti and streamers. “Deep breaths Seto, it’s just paper.” Mokuba moved to stand beside Joey and exchanged hellos with everyone there. Seto shook his head slightly and moved to stand a little away from the group, crossing his arms across his chest. 

“So Joey, what is this amazing job at Kaiba Corp that actually got you to move back here! We’ve been bugging you for years to come back!”  Tristan slung his arm across the blond’s shoulders pulling him over to the side. “Well I got the team lead for that new game Kaiba Corp is working on, Blessing of Osiris.” Joey pulled out of Tristan’s grip and pushed his glasses back in place.

“So why are you still dressed up in your suit Joe? I thought you said your interview was in the morning” The group moved over to the couches and settled themselves. “Well I ended up staying after doing all the contract paperwork. I got to meet my team and see where they we’re in the game. I kinda lost track of time and Mokuba had to come get me to come here. Pretty sure if he hadn't I would still be in my office reviewing the game.” Joey rubbed the back of his head, a goofy grin on his face.

“Who’d have guessed you’d be a workaholic.” Duke joked, handing out drinks to everyone. “Psh, not all of us are party animals like you Devlin.” 

“So how are  Téa and Serenity? I haven’t heard from them for awhile, and usually I get updates on Serenity from you.” Yugi asked. “Well, Téa is working hard making a name for herself on broadway. She’s had a few good rolls lately, and she has a show coming up in a six months that we can’t miss. She got the lead in a small production of Chicago. It’s a small theatre but the media coverage seems like it will be good. Hopefully we’ll all be able to go see her opening night. Serenity is doing great, she has a new clothing line coming out and has a big runway debut for it. She’s been crazy busy and I barely get to see her, but she loves it. “

“Have you guys heard from Mai at all? The only time I get to see her these days seems to be when she’s on the big screen.” Joey joked. “She’s actually coming to Domino for the movie festival! One of her blockbusters is being shown and she’s one of the red carpet guests. She sent me an email asking if I could set up a party for her. Though she might need your help sneaking away from the media.” 

“Oh great another, who stole our star caper. That won’t get me in trouble at all.” The rest of the night passed with light conversation, though Seto mostly didn’t talk he found himself enjoying being a part of the group; even if most of his responses to direct questions were only a word or two long. 

“Well guys, it’s been great, but i have to be up and at work bright and early tomorrow.” Joey stood and started walking to the door.”   
  
“At least we’ll get to see each other more now that you’re in the city for a while.” Yugi beamed, walking Joey and the Kaiba brothers to the door. With a final wave Seto and Mokuba got back into Kaiba’s car. “I’m gonna walk back to my new apartment, see you tomorrow.”  Joey waved and started walking away from the Kaiba’s before they could argue with them. Mokuba jumped out of the car and raced after Joey. “Bye Seto, I’m going to walk with Joey. My apartment is near his. See you tomorrow.”

Sighing Seto started the engine and pulled away from the Game Shop, watching Joey and Mokuba in his rear view mirror before pulling out into traffic and driving back to his empty condo.

* * *

Joey let out a groan as his alarm sounded. Rolling over he peered at the time, he rubbed his eyes sleepily and stumbled out of bed, heading for the bathroom. After a shower the blond was at least somewhat conscious, although he would need coffee before he would be fully awake. 

Looking in his closet with a towel wrapped around his waist, he picked out a suit and dress shirt. Going back to the closet Joey debated between wearing a tie or not before deciding he didn’t really need one. He grabbed a dark red tie anyways and put it in his side bag. He was bringing his FBI laptop in today as well. He was even going in early to start setting up the flags on Kaiba’s accounts so that they would get a notification if any unexpected withdraws or access points tried anything on the accounts. 

Joey found that he was actually really excited to work on Blessing of Osiris. It had been awhile since he’d had a project and it was nice to use his coding for something other than tracing hackers and cyber attacks. If he hadn’t joined the FBI he knew this would’ve been his dream job. Sighing Joey checked his watch and adjusted his glasses before leaving his apartment.

Joey stopped at a coffee shop on his way into Kaiba Corp, grabbing breakfast and much needed caffeine. He took a few sips, burning his tongue before continuing on to work. He passed through the front desk security without any issues, apparently Kaiba had thought ahead and authorized him to have an outside laptop on the premise. Was there anything he didn’t think of? Joey mused as he rode the elevator up to the 15th floor.

* * *

~Sir, you have a lunch meeting with Mr. Kaiba. Please be at his office for Noon.~ 

Joey frowned at the message from Kaiba’s secretary. He didn’t really have time to have lunch with Kaiba. He had spent his morning setting up the account flags, and had only been able to talk to a few of the team members about what need to be prioritized for the game. He pulled a hand through his hair, letting out a sigh before sending back confirmation to the secretary. You couldn’t really deny a meeting with the CEO after all.

Joey looked at the time on his computer and shook his head. He had about half an hour before he had to meet with Kaiba. He clicked open his email client and send an email to the team, outlining was priority for the week and including some of the notes he had made about the current version of the game on the test server. He let them know he had a meeting at lunch, but that his door was open if they needed anything once he was back. He triple checked the schedule smiling at the work he had taken on himself. The only way this game was going to get back on track was if they had all hands on deck. Besides, they had hired him for his coding skills not just his ability to reorganize the team.

With the email sent, Joey checked the time again and realized he’d better get going. After a moment's hesitation he reached into his bag and pulled out the tie he had brought with him. The tied it quickly, fixing his collar back into place and pulling on his suit jacket. Joey closed and locked his office and headed up to Kaiba’s office.

“Only my second day and I already have a lunch meeting with the CEO, am I already in trouble?” Joey grinned as he entered Seto’s office, choosing to sit in one of the plush chairs in front of Seto’s desk. “I wanted to check in and make sure that everything was going alright. Most of my employees don’t need to balance two jobs at once.” Seto didn’t look up from whatever he was working on while he spoke to Joey. “Well, It’s a lot harder when the cover I have to maintain isn’t me. It feels weird not having to try and remember some random background details for once.” Joey grinned and picked up the nameplate on Seto’s desk, running his fingers over the engraved letters.

“Put that down” Seto bit out, looking up at the blond for the first time since he had entered his office. Cerulean clashed with honey and suddenly a jolt of electric energy jumped between the two. It took a moment for Joey to break the eye contact, looking back down at the nameplate in his hands. He put the block back on Seto’s desk before looking back up at the brunet, peering through his glasses which slide down his nose. “Well are we going for lunch or not? I have a lot of work to get through and I want to get back to my team.” 

Seto blinked at the blond, nodded and stood. “Alright then, come on. We have a private room in the executive dining room.” Joey followed Seto out of the office and to the large dining hall on the other side of his floor. They walked through the dining room, ignoring the staff until they came to the private room. Seto walked in and sat at the table, motioning for Joey to join him. A server came in and gave them both menu’s, she rattled off the specials and indicated a button on the side of the table. When they were ready to order, or if they needed anything they could press it and a server would come and help. After taking drink orders the server left, closing the door behind her.

Joey let out a low whistle, “I’ve never seen a setup like this before, paranoid much?” 

“With good reason, considering not only our current situation, but the amount of times Mokuba or I have been threatened. The amount of times someone has tried to take over Kaiba Corp.” Kaiba answered, looking over the menu thoughtfully. “Fair enough, I guess it’s useful to have set ups like this though, so no one can overhear your conversations.”

“Exactly, Now then. I saw that you were poking around in the accounts today, can I assume the flags have been set?” Seto set his menu down and knitted his hands together, resting his chin on them. “Huh, figures you would be watching the account access, yeah everything is setup. If someone tries to access them, other than you or Mokuba we’ll know. In the last few cases they gained access to the CEOs accounts, but with the security around yourself and Mokuba they won't be able to use their regular methods. I’m kind of surprised they targeted you at all. Sure you have the net worth that they like, but your security is way higher than any of the other targets.“ A knock came at the door, Kaiba called in the server, who brought their drinks and took their order. She picked up the menus and left them.

Joey paused and took a sip of the coffee in front of him, taking a moment to enjoy the expensive roast. “The hacker must want to challenge themselves… or they want to prove how good they are by taking on the most challenging target they can… they could also have a personal vendetta against you and used the other targets as practice to test the FBI's response time. I wish we had more information about the attacks. It would help if we could figure out the whys.” Joey mused between sips. He’d had a similar conversation with the director in Domino after their meeting with Kaiba. It bothered him that the hacker had managed to get away thus far without a single clue left behind, other than his taunting code indicating his next target.

The server returned with their orders, checking that they didn’t need anything else from her before leaving again. Seto and Joey ate quietly, both concentrating on their food. Finally Seto cleared his throat, “So how are things going with Destiny of Osiris? From what Mokuba said, the team seems focused again. Do you think it can get back on track?”

Joey smiled, “Yeah, it’s actually not as bad as Perkins seemed to think. They were still working on what the schedule said, but without any feedback they were getting stuck on trying to make what they were working on perfect. I set out a new schedule for the team and am going through everything that they were stuck on. If everything goes as planned, which we both know it never does, we should still hit the hard deadlines. I might need some wiggle room for some of the testing deadlines though. “ Seto nodded, “Seems like you’ve got both jobs under control, heh. Who would’ve thought I’d have to rely on you so much mutt.” 

Joey narrowed his eyes slightly, but refused to take the bait. He knew Seto was testing him, seeing if he was as hot headed as he’d been in high school. They both finished the lunch and Joey excused himself, having to get back to his team. Seto frowned watching the blond leave in a few long strides. He’d hoped to see the blond fired up again, like back in high school, but not only had Joey not retaliated, he had more or less run off. 


	5. Chapter 5

## Chapter Five

Seto stood in the doorway to Joey’s office, watching the blond type at his desk. He hadn’t noticed Seto yet, allowing the brunet to watch him work. He could see one of Joey’s screens that was angled towards the door. Joey was looking back at it, his fingers flying across his keyboard. Every once and awhile Joey’s left hand would come up to adjust his glasses before continuing to type along side the right hand. 

Joey seemed to suddenly realize he was being watched at looked up, staring at Kaiba for a few moments before looking back down at his computer. “Can I help you Mr. Kaiba?” Seto frowned at the formality of Joey’s words before realizing they didn’t know who might be around listening in. “It’s been a few weeks since our last meeting, I want a project update.” Seto stepped into the office and closed the door behind him, watching as the tension in Joey’s shoulders seemed to lessen slightly with them suddenly alone.

“Well we’re making good headway, I’m fairly sure I already gave you a summary of our progress in the weekly reports I have to send your way.” Joey grumbled, the formality out of his voice. “Truthfully, I wanted an update on the other project you’re working on.” Seto watched as Joey spun his chair around and pulled out his laptop from his bag. A tie unrolled along with it, falling to the floor. Joey swore and picked it up doing his best not to roll over the piece of silk. “If you were wearing your tie it wouldn’t be on the ground.” Joey stuck his tongue out at Seto and pushed the tie into the bottom of his bag. 

Seto grabbed one of the extra chairs in Joey’s office and brought over to Joey’s side of the desk. Sitting beside him as he booted up his laptop. The FBI logo flashed on the screen and Joey typed out a long password. He clicked around a few times on the desktop, opening programs. A command log popped up and Joey issued a few more commands. 

Suddenly the screen showed all of the different access points used to see into Seto’s accounts. “So far the only places to access anything have been in your and Mokuba’s offices. And each time has been accounted and verified by both of you. When this hacker tries, there’s a chance they might break in in order to have access to one of your computers. Thought that will only bypass one of the flags I set up.” Seto nodded, watching as Joey checked a few different things on his account before closing it out. He pulled up a text file filled with code. “This is what’s left after the hacker once he’s drained the accounts.” Joey turned the computer in front of Seto, letting him read through the code. 

“There’s a block in the middle that’s the encoded message of who they’ll target next.” Joey leaned in front of Seto, clicking open a second file and showing them side by side. “And here’s the decoded version that landed me here. They don’t give a time frame but they do have you account numbers and names.” Seto nodded, frowning at his and Mokuba’s personal account numbers sitting right after the corporations. “They don’t just want to ruin the company, they’re after Mokuba and my accounts as well. What about the rest of it? That block isn’t the only one that isn’t actually doing anything.”

“What do you mean?” Joey asked watching as Kaiba scrolled back through the original code. “Right here, this block is doing the same thing as the one before it, but it never actually gets called.” 

“Hnn, I can’t imagine that that’s just a mistake. After all why would you leave something like that in your calling card. Knowing that techs and analysts would be pouring over it trying to find any meaning in what they left behind.” Joey grabbed the block and copied it into a new document, running it through the same algorithm that unlocked the last section. “Hmm, this is going to take a while to run through. It doesn’t seem to be using the same encryption as the last one, though I guess that’s not too surprising.” 

Joey leaned back and stretched, reaching his arms up over his head. Seto watched him out of the corner of his eye, “Have you eaten yet?” Joey blinked a few times, started by Seto’s question. He looked over at the clock on his desktop. “Nope, somehow I lost track of time again. I don’t even think I had lunch…” Joey trailed off, his stomach grumbling, confirming that he had indeed skipped lunch.

“Heh, come on pup, let’s get you something to eat.” Seto stood and moved the chair he had been using back to the other side of the Joeys desk. The blond nodded, closing his laptop and putting it back into his bag. He fiddled around with a few things on his work computer, saving what he had been working on and shutting it down. “Alright, where to moneybags?” Joey grinned while Seto just shook his head at the high school nickname. Glad that Joey had joined in this time instead of just running away. 

“Where do you want to go?” 

* * *

Seto had forced Joey to put on his tie before they entered the restaurant. It was a very prestigious five star restaurant with a dress code. Joey had tried to get reservations each time he had visited Domino but they were always fully booked. Yet here was Kaiba walking in and getting his  _ usual table,  _ because of course he had a usual table. Joey had to stop himself from rolling his eyes as the staff gave them the royal treatment. You’d think Kaiba shit gold the way they were falling over themselves to ensure his every whim was catered to.

Seto’s table was in a secluded table, you couldn’t see who was at the table until you were standing almost in front of it. “Red or white?” Seto asked, eyes traveling over the wine list. Joey looked up at  Seto in surprise. “Red?” Seto nodded and indicated a bottle to the server. 

Joey looked through the menu, not sure what to have. After all this time trying to get into the restaurant, everything looked so good. Somehow knowing that he was starving just made it harder to choose. “What’s good here Kaiba?” The brunet lowered his menu and peered across at Joey. He glanced back at the menu again. “You should try the Kampachi Belly.” 

“Since your such an expert why don’t you just order, I’ll eat pretty much anything anyways.” Joey grinned and closed his menu. He pulled his glasses of his face and cleaned them with a microfiber cloth he kept in the front pocket of his jacket. The motion caught Seto’s attention, he watch as Joey meticulously wiped down each lens, tilting the frames to be sure they were clean before placing them back on. “How long have you needed glasses?” Joey looked up at Seto, tilting his head slightly as he thought about it.

“Since I was twelve, I wore contacts all through high school though. I hated my glasses when I was younger, I used to hide them and not wear them in school, I got contacts once my eyesight got too bad to pull that off without walking into something every other step. I started wearing glasses again while I was in University. Suddenly contacts were too much extra effort on top of my school work.” 

“How did you even get into Columbia? From what I could tell you were barely passing high school.” The server returned with the wine, pouring them both a glass and taking their order from Seto.

“Heh actually, I had the second highest mark in most of our classes. People just thought I did really badly because I goofed off all the time. One time Tristan stole my test when they were handing them back and almost fell out of his chair.” Joey chuckled at the memory, shaking his head slightly. “People always assume t’ings ‘bout ya if ya talk like a street punk an’ don’t act the way dey want ya too.” Joey grinned, using his thick brooklyn accent.

“The glasses kinda ruin the effect” Seto smirked; Joey had a point, even he was guilty of judging him based on his accent. “Yeah, but I can’t see your reaction if I take them off.” Joey shrugged, picking up his glass and trying the wine Seto had ordered. The server returned, placing a plain salad in front of each of them and topping off their glasses before leaving. “How did you get recruited into the FBI? Or is that a well guarded secret?”

Joey took a few bites of salad as he mulled over the question. “One of my professors was a recruiter, he submitted my name. I never really got a straight answer from him as to why. One day I got an letter that said that they wanted me to come in for a bunch of interviews, and that if they went well I could train at Quantico for a year and have a chance to become an agent.”

“Why don’t your friends know then? They all just think you're a programmer…” Joey smirked, “Jezz, we should’ve recruited you, I feel like I’m under interrogation. I didn’t tell them when I first got recruited because I still wanted to finish university before I went to Quantico, and then once I was there we we’re sealed off from everything… after that it just… wasn’t something you just tell people. The only reason you and Mokuba know is because of this case. I just… I want to keep the people that are important to me safe… not telling them did that...” 

Joey pushed his fork around, moving the last pieces of his salad around before dropping his fork in the dish. He let out a sigh and looked up at Seto. They stared at each other while the server came and removed their dishes and placed their entrees before them. Joey broke the stare first to drool over the food. “This looks amazing.” Seto smiled at Joey watching the blond dig into his meal happily. “I guess some things never change.” Joey glanced up once at Seto, smiling him before looking back down at his food.

“So what about you Kaiba, what have you been up to since high school. There must be at least a few stories in the last decade that stand out.” Kaiba hmmed, lifting his glass. “Anything company related you would’ve seen on the news. Mokuba has probably already told you, but we sold Gozaburo’s gaudy mansion when Mokuba left for University. What else is there?” 

Joey stared at Seto, a playful glint in his eyes. “Break any hearts? Somehow you managed to keep anything of your personal life out of the public.” 

“No comment.” Seto chuckled, “The truth is, I haven’t had time- haven’t made time really, to be breaking any hearts. So no, no heart breaking.” 

“For what it’s worth, I haven’t made the time to meet anyone either.” Kaiba looked up at Joey, not quite sure what to say, an awkward silence feel over them. Joey’s pocket buzzed loudly, breaking the silence. “Shit someone’s trying to log into an account from an unauthorized location.” Joey pulled his computer from his bag, he shifted to the side in his chair, blocking the laptop from view in his lap.

“Hmm, running a trace now. We need to leave…” Joey looked up once from his computer, watching as Seto signaled the server. Joey shut his laptop again as she came over and shoved it back into his bag. Seto stood with him, telling the server to send him the charges. He left a tip for her and lead Joey out of the restaurant back to his car. 

“My apartment is nearby, it’s 102 Parliament street.” Seto nodded and took off, breaking a few speed laws as they charged to Joey’s place. They pulled over in front of the building and Joey practically jumped out of the car, keeping a decent pace as he unlocked the door and waited for Kaiba to join him. The second the brunet was beside him he ran over to the stairwell, taking two or three stairs at a time. He finally stopped at the fifteenth floor and unlocking his apartment. He rushed through the the living room and snapped his laptop into the stand. 

Seto was a few steps behind Joey, watching as the blonds fingers flew over the keyboard. He had the Trace up on one monitor while he was checking the account himself on another. There was a third program still running in the corner trying to decrypt the code they had discovered earlier. Seto came to stand behind Joey, watching as his eyes flick from screen to screen. A box kept popping up in the tracking window, Joey would swear under his breath and run a pass-breaker on the box.

“They’ve got pass-blocks up on each of the nodes the trace is being bounced through. I’m going to end up running out of time before we get a lock on their IP. On the plus side they haven’t been able to break in yet. They’re using a soft break in, trying to figure out your pass code without setting off the password lockout from the bank security themselves.” Joey sat back in his seat as the trace died on the screen. “Whoever this person is, they know what their doing. I got bounced through 12 nodes each with a roadblock that I had to break through before the trace could find the next connection. I could work on something that can break through them faster.” Joey pulled his glasses off and rubbed his eyes, resting his forehead in his hand. 

Joey’s computer beeped, he looked back up, shoving his glasses back in place. “Heh, at least they didn’t get anything. They’ll have to do another run, I should have more ready for them the next time…” Joey leaned back in his chair and looked back up at Kaiba, he pulled off his tie, throwing it over one of the monitors. “Sorry we had to run out on dinner, I was having a nice time.” Joey smiled softly at Seto. “Don’t worry about it, we could always just go another time.” Joey blinked up at Kaiba, unsure if he’d meant that the way it sounded. “I’d like that…”

“I should probably get going, I’ll see you at work.” Joey nodded and watched Kaiba leave, suddenly too exhausted to move from his chair. Looking back at his computer he opened a new window and got to work. It was going to be a long night.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I just realized that fan fiction took out all of my scene breaks because for some reason they get scrubbed on upload. I’ve updated all the chapters with scene breaks added back in. Sorry for anyone who had to deal with sudden scene changes. :< Thanks again to everyone for favouriting, following and reviewing!  
> I had a lot of trouble writing this chapter for some reason. I couldn’t settle on how anything should happen…

## Chapter Six

Joey tried to rollover to turn off the alarm on his phone, he blinked as he fell to the floor, his chair falling out from under him. He tried to move to get up and heard the telltale crunch of his glasses beneath one of the chairs legs. With a groan the blond stood and made his way to the bathroom, smacking into every piece of furniture in his way. He grumbled and opened the bathroom mirror trying to find his contacts. Finally finding the case he popped it open and poked one of the lenses, he put in on with a practiced motion. Something he had mastered over the years of putting them on while rushing to get to school on time.

Blinking he closed the mirror and stared at his reflection. He ran a hand through his hair, it had been awhile since he’d pulled an all nighter and it showed. His eyes were bloodshot with dark circles under them. He sighed and turned on the water for the shower, stripping off his suit from the day before and leaving it in a pile in the corner of the room. He eased into the shower and closed his eyes, letting the warm water wash over him and mend the aches in his stiff muscles.

* * *

Seto knocked at Joey’s door, balancing a tray of coffee in one hand. He sighed as he realized he could hear the shower running. Reaching out, he turned the handle, a little surprised when it opened. So he’d never locked it after Seto left the night before? Seto stepped in and closed the door behind him, he could hear the water turn off. “Hey Wheeler, you left your door unlocked. Anyone could’ve walked in…” 

Joey was standing in front of Seto dripping wet with a towel hanging low off his waist. He was drying off his hair with a second smaller towel. Seto watched a stray bead of water trail down the blond’s chest into the towel at his waist. Joey blinked and looked at Kaiba. “What are you doing here?” Kaiba shook his head slightly and held up the coffee. “I brought coffee, I figured you might need it after last night…” Seto cleared his throat and watched Joey as he grinned and grabbed a coffee from the tray in Kaiba’s hand. “Thanks! Give me a sec to get dressed.” Joey took a sip of coffee, closing his eyes as the caffeine hit his senses. “Mmm coffee…” 

The blond disappeared into his room, leaving Kaiba standing in the hallway still holding out the coffee tray. With Joey out of sight the spell was broken, Seto shook his head trying to clear his thoughts. Looking around the apartment he moved to the living room and sat down on the couch, taking his own coffee out of the tray and taking a long sip.

Joey reappeared his dress shirt untucked and only buttoned half way up. He was drinking the coffee and moving towards his desk. With a sigh Joey put the coffee cup on his desk and righted his fallen computer chair, retrieving the glasses from the floor. He held them up for Kaiba to see. “Well guess I’m stuck with contacts until I can get another pair…” Joey shook his head and put what was left of his glasses on the desk. He walked through his apartment, grabbing a dustpan and returning to clean up the broken glass from the floor.

“You broke your glasses?” Kaiba looked on in disbelief, how had Joey managed that? Joey looked up and grinned sheepishly. “I was up all night working on the tracer program… I must’ve fallen asleep at my desk at some point because when my alarm went off I woke up and fell out of my chair. My glasses must’ve fallen off my face at some point after I passed out, because when I moved to try and find them the chair crunched into them.” Kaiba shook his head in disbelief, smiling slightly as Joey finished cleaning up the glass and dumped it in the garbage. Joey sat down in his chair and continued drinking coffee. “Thanks for the coffee, I don’t think I’ll be able to function today without it.”

“Do you think you’ll be able to catch this guy the next time he tries another hack?” Joey hummed and clicked open the program he had written. “Yeah, but I’m going to get an analyst rotation at the FBI watch over your accounts. I shouldn’t have been the only one alerted by the flags I set up, but the head office said they didn’t get they notice. Somehow this hacker caught at least part of the signal and cut it off before anyone else could be notified… Which means they know we’re watching for them.” 

“I need to head into the FBI office and try and see what happened… Did you wanna come with me?” Joey finished his coffee and stood, packing up his laptop. “I’ve got a meeting in half an hour, I should head off to the office. Let me know what’s going on when you get a chance.” Kaiba stood and left, feeling the need to get some air. Joey watched him curiously, he pushed his damp bangs out of his face and shook his head. He finished getting dressed before heading off as well, locking the door behind him. 

* * *

Seto let out a frustrated groan. He hadn’t been able to get Joey out of his head. Specifically Joey in nothing but a towel, dripping wet. He pushed his keyboard away and laid his head in his arms. He was never going to get any work done. A knock echoed off Seto’s office door and Mokuba walked in.

“Are you okay Seto?” Mokuba looked on at his brother with worry. “Why are you lying on your desk, are you feeling alright?” Mokuba walked over and tried to place his hand on his brother’s forehead. “Your burning up and your face is all red, Seto what’s wrong.” Seto buried his face in his arms trying to hide his embarrassment. “Just leave me alone Mokuba, I’m fine…”

“If you say so, do you want me to head the meeting with finance while you finish up whatever you're working on here?”

“Could you Mokuba, if you don’t mind. I can’t seem to get anything done.”

“Seto, is this whole hacker thing getting to you?’ Seto sighed and looked up at Mokuba. “No, that’s not it…”

“If you say so, you should really take it easy though Seto. Give me the financial reports, I’ll take care of them. Take some time and rest, you’re no good to the company if you’re sick.” Mokuba reached over and picked the files off Seto’s desk. “You should really find yourself a boyfriend Seto, I won’t be taking care of you forever.” Seto choked back a laugh, “Don’t you have a meeting to go to, stop fussing over me already and just go.” Mokuba laughed, “Alright alright, I’m going. I’ll check in with you later Seto.”

* * *

Joey ran his finger through his hair, letting out another sigh. The visit to the FBI hadn’t gone well and he’d ended up spending his morning going through the bureau computers trying to figure out why the trace hadn’t gone off. Now he was back at Kaiba Corp, trying to do all the work he had for Blessing of Osiris. 

Everyone had been coming into his office since he’d arrived asking for him to take a look at the latest build. Each pointing out a different problem area and asking how to fix it. On top of everything he could feel his eye twitching, having had way too much caffeine. What he really needed right now was a nap, but he was so amped up he wouldn’t be able to sleep anyways. He closed his eyes, fighting the urge to rub them.

The laptop let out a ding, “Finally!” The decryption program Joey had run the night before had finally finished. On the screen were all the results the program had come up with. Joey scrolled through them, finally stopping on a single line.  _ Sie werden mich nie fangen.  _ The computer had a rough translation beside it, noting the text as German. “You will never catch me. Heh, we’ll see about that.” 

Joey opened the files from all of the robberies, searching through the code he found the same message in each. Not as much of a lead but the language meant something. Closing the computer Joey messaged Seto’s secretary . 

~Is Mr. Kaiba free?~

* * *

“So Kaiba, know any German psycho computer geniuses that have it in for you? Or is there just the one?” Seto frowned, Joey had walked into his office, his laptop in hand. The blond sat down in the couch in Seto’s office, opening his laptop. Seto stood and joined Joey on the couch. “What did you find?” Joey pulled up the results from the decryption and showed them to Kaiba, leaning closer to him so he could see the screen. “The results came back with a phrase in German,  _ Sie werden mich nie fangen  _ or-”   
  


“You’ll never catch me…” Joey grinned at Seto, “Of course you know German, yeah that’s the gist of it. I went back through all the other cases but they all just had the same phrase. It’s not a lot to go on, but how many German programmers are this good?” 

Seto shook his head. “Still we can’t jump to conclusions, it could be a coincidence or a set up.” Joey sighed, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. “You’re right, it would be too easy if it was Siegfried.” Kaiba watched the blond, realizing after a few minutes past that Joey had fallen asleep. 

Seto reached out tentatively and brushed a lock of hair away from Joey’s face. Reaching over he closed Joey’s laptop and placed it on the coffee table. He sat beside him a few minutes long, just watching him sleep before getting up and getting back to work. Somehow the blond sleeping in his office helped keep Seto’s mind from wandering too far and he was finally able to get some work done. 

Hours passed without Joey waking. Seto held a finger to his lips as Mokuba entered his office. Mokuba frowned until he spotted the blond sleeping on the couch. Joey had fallen over at some point and was now half lying down on the arm, his legs hanging off the side. One arm was thrown over his head while the other rested on his chest. “How long has he been here?” Mokuba whispered, creeping over to the side of Seto’s desk. 

“A few hours, he made a breakthrough on the case and came up to show me, but he almost immediately fell asleep on the couch.” Mokuba reached over and placed his hand on Seto’s forehead. “You should really be the one sleeping on the couch, at least you don’t seem to have a fever anymore.” Seto swatted away his hand. “I told you I’m fine Mokuba. How did the meeting go?”

“It was fine, I’ll send you the summary when I get back to my desk. Are you just going to let him sleep there all day?” Joey groaned and sat up slowly, stretching his arms over his head. “How long was I out?” Mokuba and Seto stared at Joey. “Not too long, do you need to call the FBI still? Otherwise your team is probably wondering where you are.” Joey grimaced. “Yeah I called the office before I came up to talk to you…” Joey yawned and slumped back against the couch. He glanced at his watch, frowning at the time. “I’ve been asleep for three hours Kaiba, that is definitely too long. Most of my team has probably already headed home.” 

Joey pulled his phone out of his pocket, looking through his messages. His phone started vibrating in his hand making him jump. “Hello? - Yes, ok - I’ll be over in a few to pick them up. - Thank you.” Hanging up he looked up at the Kaiba brothers. “My glasses are ready, they did a rush order for me. I’m gonna go pick them up, and then probably pass out at home. Call me if you need me…” Joey stood and stretched again, his fingertips reaching as up high, arching his back before smiling and waving at the two brothers. 

  
Mokuba looked over at Seto and burst out laughing. Seto’s face was red again, and his eyes had been focused on the blond until he had left the room. “Guess you weren’t sick after all.” Mokuba winked at Seto and left before he could say anything. Seto put his face in his hands, drawing one hand through his hair. He left out a frustrated groan and looked over at the couch, a part of him wishing the blond was still lying there. “What am I thinking…” Kaiba shook his head and looked back at his computer, he didn’t think he would be able to get any more work done today. He stood and packed up his briefcase, gazing one more time at the couch before locking his office and heading home. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little short, but the break is where I want it. Plus it’s pretty action packed… See you in the next chapter… :p

## Chapter Seven

Seto tossed and turned, looking at the clock every few minutes. He had been tossing and turning since he had tried to go to sleep hours ago. Finally he gave up on sleep and sat up. He glanced over a his phone, an internal fight ensued before his tired brain gave in and he picked up his phone. 

~Are you still up?~

He hit send before he could second guess his message.  Sitting around feeling every nerve on end, his conscious immediately telling him how stupid it was to send that message so late, oh course he was asleep.

~yeah, can’t sleep?~

He stared at his phone, a look of disbelief on his face. He stared at the message, not sure what to say.

~No. What about you? I thought you were going to go home and sleep.~ Seto sat up fully, turning on a light and cradling his phone in his hand. Smiling at the almost instant response that followed.

~I did. Woke up and now I can’t get back to sleep.~

~Do you want to come over, we could work on the case since we’re both not sleeping.~ Seto started pacing, Joey’s reply taking longer than the last few.

Finally a single word reply came. 

~sure~

* * *

Seto paced back and forth, he hadn’t received any other messages from Joey since he had agreed to come over. He found himself walking a circuit throughout the condo, unable to stay in one place. He would pick something up; a pen, his phone, anything, and he would fidget with it before setting it back and continuing to pace. 

A knock came at the door and he had to force himself not to sprint to answer it. Seto unlocked the door and opened it. Joey was wearing a pair of jeans and a tshirt, more like the Joey he knew from high school, and the first time Seto had seen him out of a suit since before their graduation. Joey was also wearing his new glasses; They had square frames that had a turtle shell design on the front and a solid green on the inside, so that when you saw the glasses from the side the colour would show.

“Come on in.” Seto moved out of the doorway, motioning Joey inside. With a smile, Joey walked in and looked around. “Wow nice place.” Seto closed the door and locked it, smirking while Joey wandered around the condo. Joey walked into the kitchen and sat down at the island, pulling his laptop out from his bag and booting it up. “I checked into what our good friend Siegfried is up to, nothing turned up…” Kaiba sat down beside Joey and frowned. “What do you mean nothing?” 

“Nothing, zilch, nadda. It’s like he disappeared after the Grand Championship tournament. His family company is being run by his brother Leon. I reached out to him to ask him about his brother, but he hasn’t responded. He probably has to deal with people asking him all the time where his brother is. And he has no reason to believe it’s actually me emailing him. So I doubt we’ll hear from him.” Joey sighed and leaned his head in one hand, his elbow on the counter. “And of course the German government won’t talk to us. They basically told us to fuck off.” 

“So basically, the German lead is a bust. We’ll just have to find something else. They’ll slip up eventually.” Joey snorted, “Yeah, or they might just get away with your fortune. And I’ll either be reassigned or be requested to follow through to the next target.” Joey pulled off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, before setting them back on his nose. Joey shoved his computer over and laid his head in his arms. “I think we’re stuck waiting for them to try to break in again.” 

Seto reached over and put his hand on Joey’s shoulder. “That’s not so bad, is it? We know they will.” He gave the blond a small smile, watching Joey’s face light up. “I guess you’re right. I just hate waiting. What are we supposed to do until they make their next move?” The blond dropped his head back into his arms, a tired sigh escaping in a huff. Seto leaned into Joey, sliding the hand he had on his shoulder across his back, embracing him. 

Time drifted by, and Seto realized Joey had fallen asleep. Carefully, he reached over and removed the blond’s glasses and placed them on the counter. Joey immediately nestled into his arm more, a small smile on his face while he slept. Seto reached out again and brushed a strand of golden hair out of Joey’s face. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, and for once Seto didn’t analyse his every move. Slowly he leaned forward and brushed his lips against Joey’s. 

Honey eyes flashed open and Joey jumped, falling off his stool and landing on the floor. His eyes were wide and he was patting the ground searching for his glasses. “There on the counter, here.” Seto handed Joey his glasses, a blush across his cheeks. “I’m so-”

Joey snatched his glasses, slipping them on and standing up. “Uh, don’t worry about it-I gotta go-I’ll see you later.” Joey quickly grabbed his stuff and left, practically running out the door.

Seto watched, frozen in place. The door slamming broke him out of it and he buried his face in his hands. “FUCK!” Sinking to the floor, Seto pulled his legs up to his chest, trying to get his heart back together. “What the fuck am I going to do…”

* * *

Joey ran down the street, his heart pounding. He ran hard and fast, barely paying attention to where he was going. Trying to stop his brain from thinking; if he start thinking he would turn around, run back to Kaiba’s. Run back and kiss him and damn the consequences. 

He tripped and fell face first on the sidewalk, his hands getting scrapped and his pants ripped at the knees. Joey stayed down on his hands and knees, trying to catch his breath. He was panting roughly and his heart was beating in his ears. 

He couldn’t hear someone come up behind him. Didn’t notice until the cloth was already over his mouth and nose. Then everything went black.

* * *

Seto sighed as he stared blankly at his computer. It had been a few days since he’d kissed Joey, and the blond hadn’t been into the office since. Seto couldn’t get any work done, he had no idea what to do, what to say to Joey to get him to come back. He’d have to come back wouldn’t he? 

His secretary put a call through, he stared at the phone, listening to it ring and debating answering it. The ring wore him down and he answered it. “Hello?”

“Mr. Kaiba, this is Agent Burns. Have you heard from Agent Wheeler? He was supposed to be at a briefing and we can’t get a hold of him.”

Kaiba’s heart skipped a beat, he was missing? “I haven’t seen him, he hasn’t been into the office in a few days..”

“Why didn’t you report it! There’s no way he would miss a day at work never mind a few!” 

Seto looked down at his lap. “I- we had a misunderstanding. I thought he was avoiding me.”

Agent Burns sighed audibly. “I think you should come in, we need to track down his last steps.”

* * *

Joey opened his eyes slowly. His hands still burned from when he fell during his run, and now they were bound behind him. He was sitting in a chair that was inside a large cage. His legs were tied to the legs of the chair as well. One top of that whoever had put him there had also taken his glasses. 

“Good Morning, Herr Wheeler. It seems you are finally awake.” Joey turned his head in the direction of the voice, he could barely see a silhouette. “You’ve made a huge mistake taking me.” Joey bit out, glaring in the silhouette’s direction.

“Now now heir Wheeler, it seems you’ve become quite close to Herr Kaiba. We are merely using you as a means to an end. Be a good boy and you’ll be fine.” The person unlocked the cage door and stepped in, moving closer to the blond.

“You don’t get it, you’ve kidnapped an FBI agent. You're not getting away with this, no matter what you do!” Joey could almost make out long pink hair, and rose scented cologne.

“Herr Wheeler really, you think that bluff will work? I know exactly who you are. In fact, we’ve met before. It’s a miracle you became a programer, and yet you think I’ll believe you’re an FBI agent! HAH. “ The man leaned forward, almost nose to nose with Joey, watching as his honey eyes widened in recognition. “Siegfried!” 

“Yes heir Wheeler, It is I. However, you should know that the people I work for are after something, and if they don’t get it, I can’t guarantee your safety. Now then, say cheese!” A flash blinded Joey and he could hear a polaroid camera processing the film. 

“Wonderbar, ta ta for now Herr Wheeler.”

* * *

Seto sat in his office, scowling at his computer. He had just returned after spending a few hours at the FBI telling them everything about the last time he had scene Joey. They had gone through his phone and asked him over and over what happened that night. A part of him was burning with embarrassment, but he had told them everything. It was the only way to make sure they could find Joey. His secretary knocked once and entered, leaving a pain envelope in his inbox before leaving. 

Once she was gone be picked up the envelope, turning it over curiously. There was nothing on it, no address, nothing to show it was even for him. Carefully he picked up his letter opener and slit it open. A photo was all that fell out of it. A polaroid with writing on the back. 

_ Kaiba, transfer your fortune to us or we will send you your love in a body bag. Do not contact the police. We will be in touch. _

With a shaky hand, Seto turned over the photo, dropping it on his desk as he saw what was on it. Joey was tied to a chair, in the same clothes he’d been wearing when he’d been over a the other day ago. His jeans were ripped at the knees and it looked like he had fallen. 

He picked up his phone and called Agent Burns. 

* * *

“What do you mean I can’t be a part of this! They sent a ransom note to me! They are going to contact me.” 

“And when they do, you will answer and we will try to negotiate the release of our agent. We need to convince them that he’s just an employee. That he’s not leverage.”

“And if they kill him instead of letting him go, that’s on you!” Kaiba stormed out of the room, furious. How dare they! After all the times Kaiba had rescued Mokuba, he was more than qualified to be part of the team looking for Joey. There was no way they were going to leave him out of it! Whether they liked it or not, the kidnappers would call him. There was no way to keep him out of the loop. Seto just hoped that Joey would be safe until they could find him.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While looking up his name, I realized Siegfried is actually spelt Zigfried, whops. Oh well it’s Siegfried now! On with the story! ;)

## Chapter Eight

The call came in the middle of the night. Seto had been sleeping fitfully, tossing and turning. He sat up immediately and looked over at his cellphone. He swung out of bed, grabbing the phone and running to his home office. He quickly plugged the phone into his computer, running his trace program before answering. 

“What do you want?” He tried to sound gruff and grumpy, like he would had someone from the office called him at this hour.

“Now now Herr Kaiba, is that any way to speak to us?” the voice taunted, Kaiba’s blood ran cold. He knew the voice. Shakily he tried to act nonchalant. Keeping the FBI’s advice in his mind. Make them think he didn’t care about Joey.

“I speak however I want, especially when people are wasting my time.” Seto was suddenly glad for 

Gozaburo’s training. 

“Herr Kaiba, even if I were to believe you care nothing for this hmmm, what did you used to call him? Ah yes, Mutt. Even if you didn’t care for this mutt, you surely care about your image. Please check your email. We will release this image to the press if you do not see fit to follow our demands.”

Seto blinked and clicked a few time, opening his email. Among the emails from Kaiba Corp there was one with an image attachment. He opened it froze. Joey was sleeping on his counter and the photographer had captured the moment just before Seto had kissed Joey. He was leaning it, lips a second away from touching. Capturing the moment right before Joey freaked out and ran out of his condo. How had they gotten that picture? They would’ve had to have been in the condo with them. 

“Now then Herr Kaiba, you will transfer one billion dollars to the following account within the next twenty four hours.”

The caller hung up, Seto stared at his phone for awhile. His computer beeped at him, letting him know the trace had completed. Quickly, he called Agent Burns, informing him of the call he just had and that he had a trace on the phone used. Within moments Burns was in Seto’s Condo, staring at the computer trace. Seto played back the conversation a few times. Allowing Agent Burns to copy the recording as well as the tracking information.

“Mr Kaiba, you shouldn’t have this tech in your home, you shouldn’t have it at all. It’s illegal.”

“Yeah well, after the amount of times Mokuba was kidnapped I programmed my own tracking system. It’s a good thing I had it, otherwise we wouldn’t know where this guy was.”

“And you think you recognized his voice?”

“Yes, he’s an old rival, Siegfried von Schroeder. However, I don’t think he’s working alone. He kept saying we, us… He’s definitely working for someone or with them.”

“Well, thank you for your help Mr Kaiba, I will take it from here.”

“And what am I supposed to do while you run off and do whatever you’re planning on doing?”

“Go to work, wait for my call. Hopefully this will lead to us finally catching these people. Good day Mr Kaiba.” Agent Burns left, Seto glared at him. Immediately he went into action, ditching his classic trenchcoat look, he dressed down to a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. Slipping on a pair of sunglasses, he looked at his reflection in the mirror, after a moment he reached up and ruffled his perfect hair, scowling a little as he messed it up. Happy that no one would recognize him he left his condo, making his way to the location he traced the call to. He was going to get Joey out of there, with or without the FBI’s help.

* * *

Joey glared at Siegfried while he held out a glass of water for him. Joey leaned over and drank from the straw. He was starving, he hadn’t had anything to eat since he’d been taken. The most they ever offered him was water. At first he hadn’t trusted it, but as time past he knew he needed it.

“It’s only a matter of time now Herr Wheeler.”

“What, until you kill me? I’ve seen your face. I know who you are… I know what that means for me.” Joey bit out bitterly. “Ah, It is not me you need fear seeing Herr Wheeler. No doubt I will take the fall for all of this. However I assure you seeing me does not mean a death sentence for you or Herr Kaiba.”

Joey blinked, there was something about Siegfried’s expression that change. “What do you mean? Is someone controlling you?” Siegfried shook his head, taking the cup away and left Joey alone in his cell. ‘What the fuck is going on.’ Joey wondered to himself. He started fidgeting with the zipties holding his wrists together, he felt the plastic biting into his wrists but ignored the pain and pressed against the restraints. He heard them pop off and his wrists stung. He slipped the tie into his pocket and rubbed his sore wrists.

He bent over and tore the duct tape that was binding his legs to the chair he was on. He was careful to make it look like it hadn’t been tampered with so that when Siegfried opened the cage again he could jump up and escape. Plan firmly in mind the blond put his arms behind his back again and closed his eyes. He’d need as much energy as he could muster to escape.

* * *

Seto stood outside an old warehouse. He had been watching it for a few hours but no one had come in or out in the time he’d been watching. ‘This is where the signal came from… he must be in there…’

Seto started walking around the block. He saw a white van pull up as he turned the corner. Peering back around he figured it was either nothing or an FBI surveillance van. He watched it for awhile, seeing no one coming in or out of the van he figured it was most likely the later.

“Good backup, let’s see if I can get a look inside.” He circled around to the back of the building and peered into the windows as he passed them. “It’s empty, what?” he found an emergency door and pulled on it gently, surprised when it opened easily. He slipped into the building, closing the door behind him quietly. 

“Where are you?” he thought, making his way from room to room. His phone vibrated in his pocket, scaring the living daylights out of him. He checked that the coast was clear, pulling his phone out of his pocket. He had a text from Agent Burns saying that they were outside the building he traced the call to and had the place surrounded. He realised they were going to storm the place! He slid the phone back into his pocket and picked up the pace. “Please be here…”

He heard someone walking towards him and ducked into the next doorway, hoping the person hadn’t heard him. Looking out a crack in the door, he saw Siegfried walk past him. He resisted the urge to pounce. Instead he waited for him to be out of earshot and continued down the hall checking each room he passed. He got to the end of the hall, and the last door. He swallowed hard and opened the door. 

“Kaiba, what are you doing here.” Joey hissed across the room. 

“I came to save you!” Seto pulled out his phone and shot a picture of Joey, sending it to Agent Burns. 

“And now you're taking pictures. What the fuck Kaiba get out of here!” Seto ignored the blond and eyed the cage lock.

“The FBI is outside, they’ll grab Siegfried and anyone else in the building. Let’s get you out of that cage.” Joey sighed and ripped the rest of the tape off his legs. “I did have a plan, by the way.” Joey muttered, standing up and stretching his stiff joints.

The hear the a loud bang shake the whole building, and many people come stampeding into the building. Siegfried ran back into Joey’s prison, yelping when he saw Joey standing up by the door of the cage. Kaiba came up behind him and hit him once across the back of the neck. Siegfried crumpled to the floor unconscious.

“Jesus Kaiba.” Seto smirked and dug through Seigfried’s pockets retrieving the key to Joey’s cage. Agent Burns and his team broke through the room and stared at Kaiba and Joey standing there with Siegfried unconscious at his feet.

“I told you to say out of this Mr Kaiba.”

“You're not the boss of me. Besides, I gave you confirmation that he was here didn’t I?” Kaiba crossed his arms across his chest, giving Agent Burns a smirk.

“I’ll need you to be debriefed back at headquarters Agent Wheeler. Let's go.” Joey sighed, following Agent Burns to the van, Kaiba following instride with him.

“Thanks for coming for me Kaiba.” Joey whispered, not turning his head.

“Heh, anytime pup.” Kaiba watched Joey shake his head, a lopsided smile creeping on his face.

“Man, I could eat an entire horse. I’m starving.” Kaiba couldn’t hold back, he burst out laughing. “What, I haven’t eaten in  _ days _ literally!’ Joey whined, stomping his foot.

* * *

Kaiba watched as Joey devoured a cheeseburger in under a minute. Agent Burns had warned him to take it slow, but the blonde couldn’t hold himself back. He picked a second burger out of the bag, eating the second slower than the first.

“Now then Agent, you were saying?” Joey swallowed, taking a sip of soda before reporting exactly what happened. When he got to Siegfried mentioning others he worked with Agent Burns started asking question after question with no results. “So you never saw anyone else other than the Siegfried?”

“No, and he alluded to there being others, it almost seemed like he was being held hostage. I think there’s something else going on. He definitely wasn’t working alone.”

“Hm, very well. Is there anything else you’d like to add?” Joey shook his head, finishing off his second burger and picking fries out of the paperbag.

“Very well, go home and rest up. I’ll expect a report on my desk asap.” Agent Burns stood and left the room. Joey stayed sitting, completely silent except for the sounds of him eating. Seto watched him, finally reaching over and stealing a fry.

“HEY! Did you get kidnapped and have nothing but water for a few days? I don’t think so! These are my fries!” Joey swatted Kaiba’s hand away causing the CEO to smirk. “Alright fine puppy, just don’t go biting my hand off.” The blond stuck out his tongue before smiling back at Kaiba. “Don’t touch my food and we won’t have a problem.”


End file.
